Package of compressed fabric material



Sept. 21, 1954 A. L. FRANKE PACKAGE OF COMPRESSED FABRIC MATERIAL Filed Jan. 19, 1952 INVENTOR. flagfasf Z. Iran/Q Zy M %QMK fl TYOIPNEXS Patented Sept. 21, 1954 PACKAGE F COMPRESSED FABRIC MATERIAL August L. Franke, Plainfield, N. J. Application January 19, 1952, Serial No. 267,262

2 Claims.

This invention relates to packaging certain fabric materials in a novel manner and is particularly suitable to the merchandising of goods, such as wash cloths. i

I have found that an extremely effective and unique package can be made, for example, from cotton goods which are available in fabric layers by folding. and compacting the slightly dampened material under heat and pressure until the cloth is so tightly compressed at the surface that the fibers of the material become welded together to form a hard shell. In such case, the shell itself is molded into a package in almost any shape desired. This package has the great advantage that the material which is being merchandised is utilized as th material for the package itself, independently of the original shape of the material or the final shape of the package.

My invention is applicable to a wide variety of products, such as towels, dishcloths, stockings and the like. For convenience I shall illustrate my invention by describing the packaging of a face cloth. I 1

In carrying out this process the face cloth is first dampened uniformly with water or the like I and then folded in half and then in half again to make a strip one-quarter the width of the original cloth. This strip is then either folded in the opposite direction or rolled up to form a more compact mass depending upon the final configuration desired. If it is desired to package the washcloth in the shape of a small cylinder, I fold the one-quarter strip of material in half transversely and then roll the folded strip into a cylinder. This cylinder is placed in a mold which conforms to the final configuration desired and the dampened folded and rolled washcloth is subjected to heat and pressure until the material is so tightly compressed at the surface of the article that the individual fibers are welded to gether and form a hard shell in the shape of the package desired. The material thus heated retains its shape indefinitely as long as it remains substantially dry.

The article is then available for merchandising in a compact and novel form. Material packaged in this way can be used by simply dropping it in water and it will be seen to unfold into a full size face cloth or other article having the same physical properties as the original material.

This invention may be readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings which show an illustrative example of my specification.

Fig. l is a perspective view of an ordinary cotton face cloth;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the same cloth folded in half twice to form a strip one-quarter the width of the original cloth;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the strip of Fig. 2 folded in half;

Fig. 4 shows the strip of Fig. 3 rolled up;

Figs. 5 and 6 are schematic views of a typical mechanism used for compressing the cylinder of Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 shows the final product;

Fig. 8 shows a modified form and Figs. 9 and 10 show an example of my invention intended for use with other fabrics such as nylon or the like.

In the preferred form of my invention shown, a piece of cotton fabric such as an ordinary face cloth I0 is slightly dampened with water, perfume or a low boiling point organic solvent and folded in half and then in half again to make a strip one-quarter the width of the original cloth (Fig. 2). This strip is then folded in half (Fig. 3) and rolled up into cylinder I2 which is compressed into the self sustaining compact package shown in Fig. '7.

Various methods may be used for compressing cylinder I: but I find that the one illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6 is the most economical and efficient. As shown I employ a mold M with one Or more cylindrical cavities 16 having approximately the same diameter as cylinder I 2. Each cavity is provided with a piston is which fits snugly into the cavity and is adapted to compress cylinder l2 into the compact package of Figs. 6 and 7. For best results I prefer to use a piston capable of delivering a pressure of approximately 1,250 to 1,500 lbs. per square inch. To assist in setting the wrinkles in the cloth so that it will remain compressed, I prefer to heat the mold and piston to a temperature of approximately F. to F. This may be done by any suitable means and for this purpose I show conventional electric heating elements 20 and 2| which are embedded in the face of piston l8 and the walls of mold [4 respectively.

The liquid used for dampening the cloth also assists in setting the wrinkles in the package and those liquids which I have used with particularly good results are water, perfume and the lower boiling point organic solvents such as methyl, ethyl and butyl alcohols. The amount of liquid used is not critical but the important thing is to dampen the fabric enough so that the wrinkles formed when cylinder I2 is compressed will set in the hot mold and hold the fabric in its of my invention;

compressed form. For example, I have achieved excellent results with approximately 5 oz. of perfume for 1,000 face cloths.

Although a small amount of perfume evaporates in the mold, I have found that most of the essential oils remain in the fabric so that it retains its fragrance even after prolonged storage. Apparently the essential oils are held in the package by a hard shell formed by the individual fibers which are welded together at the surface when the cylinder is compressed. Otherwise special packaging would be required in order to hold the perfume in the face cloth for any appreciable period of time.

The face cloth may be folded and rolled in other ways. For example the strip shown in Fig. 3 may be folded in thirds to form the rectangle of Fig. 8 which is then compressed to a fraction of its original size. However, sinc the hard shell which forms around the compressed package does not readily absorb water I prefer to fold the cloth so that both ends (marked 22 and 24, Fig. 2) are exposed in the surface of the package. This helps the water to penetrate the package so that it will readily open when placed in water.

Although my invention has been described in connection with a cotton face cloth, it will be understood that it is intended to include different forms of cotton goods and in particular a cotton dish cloth impregnated with a suitable detergent.

My invention also has application to other fabrics which are resilient and do not readily form set creases under heat and pressure. I have found that these fabrics such as nylon, orlon and the like may be readily compressed into a compact package similar to one shown in Fig. '7 if they are first rolled up in a strip of cotton fabric. The resilient fabric is placed on a strip of cotton fabric (Fig. 9) which has been slightly dampened with water, perfume, or low boiling point organic solvent, then folded as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and rolled up into the cylinder of Fig. 10 and compressed into a compact package as described above. The package retains its compressed form until placed in water because the set creases in the cotton fabric are strong enough to overcome the resiliency of the nylon or other fabric and hold the package together.

It will be further understood that it is ntended to include those fabrics which when slightly dampened have the property of forming set wrinkles under heat and pressure capable of holding the fabric in its compressed form.

What I claim is:

1. A novel package of fabric material in which the material being merchandised is utilized as the material for the package itself comprising a piece of fabric material having a rough fibrous surface which is folded up upon itself in a highly compressed compact self-sustaining block in which the surface fibers are welded together in a continuous hard shell covering the entire package and which has a second piece of smooth, resilient material encased within the said rough, fibrous material.

2. A novel package of fabric material in which the material being merchandised is utilized as the material for the package itself comprising a piece of fabric material having a rough fibrous surface which is folded up upon itself in a highly compressed compact self-sustaining block in which the surface fibers are welded together in a continuous hard shell covering the entire package and in which the material in the package is folded in half and then in half again into the form of a one-quarter width strip which is folded in half transversely and rolled up on itself.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,766,933 Novak June 24, 1930 1,807,519 Flather May 26, 1931 1,860,812 Marshall May 31, 1932 2,009,669 Morten et a1. July 30, 1935 2,031,094 Brandwood Feb. 18, 1936 2,142,623 Whinfield. Jan. 3, 1939 2,188,923 Robinson Feb. 6, 1940 ,340,311 Donovan Feb. 1, 1944 2,444,528 Popper et al July 6, 1948 

